


To Be Tamed

by spacesquidlings



Series: You Are My Sunshine [25]
Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Autumn, F/M, Fluff, Married Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26377741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacesquidlings/pseuds/spacesquidlings
Summary: With autumn comes chill days and vibrant colours and the smell of warm spices in the air. And with it too comes the perfect opportunity for Jihyun to whisk his wife away on an autumn date
Relationships: V | Kim Jihyun & Main Character, V | Kim Jihyun & Reader, V | Kim Jihyun/Main Character, V | Kim Jihyun/Original Female Character(s), V | Kim Jihyun/Reader
Series: You Are My Sunshine [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1751110
Kudos: 20





	To Be Tamed

**Author's Note:**

> Day 4 of Jihyun Week 2020. I chose the prompt Warmth!!!!

“Jihyun, where are we going?” MC asked, reaching from her seat to squeeze his arm as they made their way down the tree-lined road.

He grinned, not wanting to reveal the surprise to her. Not when he’d been planning it for over a week now. Making sure neither of them were working that day, that they didn’t have any plans, that Jumin wasn’t about to spring a surprise wine tour on them at 8am like he had the week earlier, right when the first fall harvest was about to begin.

“You’ll have to wait,” he said, his eyes flicking from the road to her wide-eyed, imploring gaze.

She wiggled in her seat, whining a little. “But  _ Jihyun _ .”

He shook his head, chuckling as he sped up, merging onto the highway on-ramp. “Nope, no, I can’t tell you.”

She stuck her bottom lip out, pouting as she cast her eyes towards the passenger window, pretending to stare out at the trees and the houses as they sped by.

Jihyun shifted, biting down on his lip as he forced himself to focus on the road and  _ not _ on his wife’s spectacular pout.

He wanted to kiss her face, wanted to press his lips against hers and make that expression vanish, wanted to hear her giggle as he wove his fingers through her hair. 

But he couldn’t. 

He had to remain strong. If he gave in now it would be mere minutes at  _ most _ before he was telling her where he was taking her. Before he ruined his own surprise because he could hardly resist those pleading eyes any longer.

“Forgive me, love,” he said, merging onto the highway as it took them from the city. “I promise it’s worth it, though.”

She huffed, her bottom lip sticking out more, and Jihyun considered how bad it would be if he pulled over right now, just to kiss her. If he would be able to keep his mouth shut once she was in his arms. If he would be able to stop himself from spilling his heart and his excitement to her once her fingers were in his hair and her breath was against his skin.

It was probably best if he kept driving.

MC’s pout blessedly vanished within a few moments, and she turned back to him with wide eyes, telling him about a recipe she’d read that morning. It was for a pumpkin dessert that she’d had once, and she wanted to try making it, and would he like to try baking it with her?

He nodded, grinning as her excitement spilled from her, as her voice washed over him like a melody, drowning out the music playing from the radio. Of course he wanted to bake with her. Of course he wanted to spend time with her.

Her hand fell from his arm as she started talking about her latest project, about the song she was trying to finish before the last of the autumn leaves fell. She was right beside him, but he felt cold, suddenly. Like a phantom wind had wrapped around him where her touch had once been.

He kept one hand on the steering wheel, the other reaching towards her, his fingers twining with hers.

MC paused for the barest of moments, blinking as she looked at their joined hands. But then she was squeezing his hand, smiling as she continued.

They chatted idly for a while, the world rushing by them in shades of burning copper and deepest gold and soil brown, reminding him of the flames of a campfire. Of sitting wrapped in a blanket before the fire with her. Of cold nights in her embrace, warmth blooming in his heart like those flames had to the kindling.

An idea blossomed in his mind, a painting slowly taking form as the colours seeped into his mind. Of autumn leaves falling over her, a diadem of fire at her brow. Of soft golden light threading through her hair, washing over her face so she was alight with gold. A blanket draped over her shoulders, pulled against her chest as her lips tipped up in a wide grin, laughing at whatever he had said.

“Jihyun,” she said, drawing him from his reverie.

He flicked his eyes from the road to her, a grin arcing across her lips. “Hmm?”

“What are you thinking about?” She asked, squeezing his hand. “You look like you’re lost in a daydream.”

He leaned back in his seat, pulling her hand towards him, brushing gentle kisses against her knuckles. “I just had an idea for a new painting.”

“Oh?” She said, leaning over to press her face against his shoulder, grinning up at him. “Can you tell me about it?”

He hummed, shaking his head. “No, I think that’s going to be a surprise too, love.”

“ _ Ugh _ ,” she whined, falling back against her own seat. “You can’t tell me anything? Not even a little hint?”

Jihyun laughed, pressing another kiss to her hand before letting it fall. “I suppose I could tell you  _ one _ thing.”

“Oh?” She asked, sitting up. “What is it?”

“ _ Well _ ,” he said. “I think I’ll need your help for this one.”

“My help?” She asked, tipping her head to the side, her hair cascading over her shoulder like rainfall.

“If you’d be alright with it,” he said slowly, switching lanes to take the next exit. “I’d like to use you as a model.”

She flushed, her gaze flicking away. “You want to use  _ me _ as a model?” She asked, her voice growing wobbly.

“Of course,” he said, gently pressing on the break as the exit ramp curved away from the highway. “You’re the most beautiful person I know. Who else would I want to model for me?”

She ducked her head, and he could see her eyes squeezing shut at the compliment.

“A bold statement when you have to look at yourself in the mirror every day, Jihyun,” she muttered her face a brilliant crimson.

His heart stumbled at his wife’s words, and he could feel heat crawling across his face, reaching up and over his ears. 

He shook his head, feigning ignorance, as if that would save him from the way his heart continued to trip over itself, as if it would stop him from wanting to smother her face in kisses  _ immediately _ .

“Pardon?” He asked, his voice cracking.

She straightened, smirking at him. “You’re the most beautiful person I have ever met, Jihyun,” she said, her expression growing soft, her words gauzy and featherlight as they brushed against him. “Your heart, your mind, your voice, your eyes.”

She reached towards him, taking his hand, resting the tips of her fingers against his shoulder, as though she couldn’t bear being unable to touch him. “I could go on and on, but you are the most beautiful person in this world.”

There was no stopping the heat that washed over him, no doubt turning his face into a cacophony of scarlets and crimsons and pinks. He probably looked like a blushing mess; he  _ felt _ like a blushing mess.

“I love you,” he said, his voice wavering, his hands shaking as he gripped the wheel tighter. “I love you so much, MC.”

“And I love you,” she breathed, pulling his hand towards her this time, peppering kisses against his knuckles, his wrist. “With everything that I am.”

Jihyun peeked at her from the corner of his eyes as he continued down the street, farmland stretching out around them. Her gentle smile, her voice that always reminded him of song, her fingers twining with his. The colour of her eyes, the way the afternoon sunshine threaded through her hair, setting it alight, the way she fiddled with the hem of her skirt.

He couldn’t help being reminded of a book he’d read back when he’d been trying to find himself, when he’d been drowning in thoughts of her, his heart aching to hurry back to her side.

“I believe,” he said, his voice so quiet he was worried it would be stolen by the sound of the music playing from the speakers. “That you have tamed me.”

Her brows arched high and she giggled, clasping both her hands around his. “What?”

“You have known me, and you have loved me, and I have known you, and loved you.”

She nodded, holding his hand close to her heart.

“You have made me special, unique in your eyes and in your heart. So you have tamed me.”

She giggled, but her cheeks had turned a rosy pink, and silver was lining her eyes. “You got that from a book, didn’t you? I remember you mentioning it in one of your letters.”

Jihyun puffed out his cheeks, his face burning so hot he was sure he would combust. “So what if I did?”

MC laughed again, kissing his hand before letting it go. “ _ Well _ ,” she said, leaning forward to brush his bangs back from his forehead, tucking a few of the longer strands behind his ear. “If that’s true, then you have tamed me, too. Because you have loved me and you have made me special.”

He shook his head, feeling breathless, tears pricking at his eyes. “You would have been special even without-”

“No,” she said, shaking her head furiously, and the sunlight danced across the stray tears that streaked down her face. “I was just a person, the same as a hundred thousand other people. But you chose to love me, and now I am unique, even if it is only in your heart.”

Jihyun bit down on the inside of his cheek, trying to will away the tears that were threatening to spill.

“But,” she continued, tipping her head to the side. “Your heart is the only one that matters.”

Jihyun was  _ not _ going to be able to hold his tears back any longer.

But before the sob that had built in his throat could escape, he caught sight of a familiar wooden sign, and relief welled in his chest.

They were here, which meant he could hold her soon.

“Jihyun?” She asked, her touch tentative as she brushed her fingers over his hair again.

“Just a second,” he said, squinting in a failed effort to stop the tears from falling free.

He pulled into the gravel parking lot, driving slowly until he found a spot at the very edge, far from the main crowds.

“Jihyun-” He cut her off as he yanked off his seatbelt, wrapping her in his arms as tightly as he could.

He buried his face against her neck, unable to hold back the tears any longer.

“I love you,” he breathed, choking on a sob. “I love you so, so much.”

Her arms snaked around his neck, pulling him tighter against her. She pressed her face against his hair, and he could feel her own tears against his brow.

“I love you, too,” she cried, squeezing him tighter. “Jihyun you mean everything to me.”

“You say such sweet things,” he sobbed, burying his fingers in her hair.

“How can you say that when  _ you’re  _ the one that always starts these conversations,” she whined, her breath curling around his ear. “You say things that make me want to cry.”

“I hate it when you cry, love,” he breathed, holding her tighter.

“They’re tears of happiness, Jihyun,” she said, nuzzling her face against him. “You make me so happy I can’t stop crying.”

He laughed, pulling her fully into his lap. “All I want is to make you happy.”

“I want to make you happy, too.”

They stayed like that for a while, wrapped in each other’s embrace as their tears slowly dried.

Once his heartbeat had slowed and his eyes grew dry, Jihyun pulled away, just enough to peer up at his wife and her red-rimmed eyes.

“Look at the pair of us,” he said, running the pad of his thumb under her eye. “Crying when I’d planned such a fun surprise.”

She sniffed. “It’s your own fault for being so horribly sweet.”

“I’d argue that it’s your fault, love,” he said, pressing a kiss to her jaw.

“I think we’re going to have to agree to disagree.”

He hummed. “Perhaps.”

They helped wipe the tears from their faces, and Jihyun let MC crawl from his lap and back into the passenger seat.

“So,” she said, opening the door and stepping out into the cool, crisp air. “Where are we?”

Jihyun grinned, taking her hand and pulling her against him. He wanted to hold her, wanted her right beside him as they wandered.

“Can’t you tell?” He teased, pointing to the side.

MC’s eyes widened as she took in the scene before them. Of the corn stalks that reached towards the golden sunlight, swaying in the breeze. Of the food trucks hovering just beyond the entrance, the smell of cinnamon and cardamom and sugary treats wafting towards them, mingling with the sweet, earthy smell of the autumn that filled his nose.

They could hear chattering in the distance, the rustling of corn stalks as people pushed through them, quiet screams that seemed to ring from deep within the maze.

MC tipped her head back, grinning. “You took me to a corn maze?”

Jihyun nodded, pulling her towards the ticket booth. “There’s  _ also _ a pumpkin patch not far from here. I thought we could pick some pumpkins out, maybe carve them tomorrow?”

MC tugged at his arm until he leaned down, smiling against her lips as she kissed him.

“I love it,” she breathed, pulling away. “With you? This is going to be  _ so _ much fun.”

Despite the cool air, Jihyun still flushed. He leaned down, kissing the top of her head, hiding his burning face from her for the barest of moments.

“Everything is better with you.”

“ _ Jihyun _ ,” she said, a warning in her tone as she pointed to one of the food trucks. “If you make me cry in the middle of the corn maze you’re buying me those doughnuts.”

He chuckled, twining his fingers with hers as he pulled away. “Understood. But what if I want to buy you the doughnuts anyways?”

“ _ Well _ ,” she said, squirming beneath his gaze. “Then I guess you’ll have to let me buy you something to drink.”

“As you wish, my love.”

Now it was MC’s turn to flush as they made their way to the ticket booth, purchasing two tickets for the maze.

She was so cute, her expression so adorable, that he couldn’t help pulling his digital camera from his pocket, snapping a few quick pictures of her.

MC whirled on him, gripping the tickets as they made their way to the entrance.

“ _ Hey!” _

She pulled her phone out, taking as many pictures of him as she could while he laughed, half-heartedly shielding his face from the lens.

“I’m nowhere near as adorable as you, love,” he cried, reaching for her wrist.

“That’s a blatant lie and you know it,” she sang, taking his wrist and pulling his hand away, catching a photo of him mid-laugh.

MC pulled away, looking far too satisfied with herself.

“I’m making that one my lock screen,” she said, sliding her phone back into her pocket with a smirk.

Jihyun clicked his tongue. “Surely there’s a better picture than that.”

She shook her head. “Nope, you’re beautiful and I want everyone to know I love my husband with my whole heart.”

He felt like sunshine was washing over him, filling his heart and spilling through his veins.

_ ‘I want everyone to know I love my husband with my whole heart.’ _

He smiled, his arm curling around her waist. “You know, some people would say that’s very dorky of you.”

She nestled against him, her arm encircling his waist in kind. “Oh? And this is coming from the king of dorks?”

He scoffed, guiding her into the maze. “I wouldn’t say I’m the  _ king _ of-”

“King. Of. Dorks,” she said, holding his gaze. “If you could win an award for dorkiness, it would be yours.”

Joy bubbled in his heart, like he’d drank far too much champagne, and it coursed through him, making him feel silly and dizzy.

“And you’re the expert here?”

“Well I married a dork, didn’t I?”

He kissed her brow, earning a quiet, happy hum. “Well I did too.”

They wandered around the maze for what felt like hours, ending up in dead-end after dead-end. Just when either of them were sure they had figured out the layout of the maze, that they knew exactly where a branch would take them, they would find themselves in an entirely new place, and they would inevitably run into another dead-end.

“All the corn looks the same,” MC muttered, squeezing Jihyun’s hand as she dragged him down another fork in the path.

“Would it help if it looked different?” He teased. “If the corn was all different colours?”

She shrugged, quirking her mouth to the side. “I don’t know. Maybe?”

“What if the corn sang?” He continued. “And it was different melodies all over the maze?”

“You mean like the flowers in  _ Alice in Wonderland? _ ”

He nodded. “Yes, but they were a bit nicer.”

“I think I’d love that. Although it would defeat the purpose of getting lost in the maze.”

He laughed. “That’s true. And I’d much rather be lost in this maze with you.”

It was true. He’d been looking forward to this all week, looking forward to the few hours he would get to wander around the maze with her, to get lost amongst the stalks with nothing but themselves and their combined directional skills guiding them to the exit.

MC flushed, the colour of the sky as dawn crept across the world, and Jihyun wanted to wrap his arms around her again, wanted to cuddle her close to his chest and press kisses to her brow.

Later. He would do that later, when the day had drawn to a close.

“Which way next, love?” He asked as they came to another fork in the path. “Left or right?”

MC hummed, swinging their arms between them. “Well we went right last time, so let’s go left.”

“As you wish,” he said, letting her tug him down the path, the stalks seeming to rise a little bit higher, the honey-coloured light pouring over them, setting the entire path ablaze.

Music rose up ahead of them, and Jihyun tipped his head to the side, confused. “Are we close to the exit?”

MC shook her head, her nose wrinkling. “I don’t think so? But look,” she pointed ahead of them. “It looks like the path curves to the side, so maybe it is the exit?”

Disappointment welled in his heart as they continued forward, wishing they could be lost for a little bit longer, not wanting to return to the world beyond the cornstalks.

But Jihyun’s inner lamentations were cut short when they turned the corner and realized that they were  _ not _ nearing the exit. That they had apparently stepped into an entirely new dimension as the corn fell away around them.

Music played from different booths lining the wide space, mingling together in a strange, wonderful cacophony of clashing chords and harmonies.

Some of the booths were manned by people, selling small cakes and pies and little handmade knick-knacks. Others, however, appeared to be more for decoration, with animatronic witches and goblins standing within the booths, spiders hanging from their orange-striped canopies.

At the far end of the clearing stood a tall, dark building, and Jihyun could  _ almost _ make out the sounds pouring from its curtained entrance. What he  _ could _ make out, however, was the heavy ivory fog that rolled from beneath the swaying curtains and the flashes of scarlet light that made him see stars.

“This is so cute,” MC cooed, wandering deeper into the clearing, her gaze already fixed on a booth selling pumpkin tarts and spiced teas.

Jihyun couldn’t help pulling out his camera as she headed towards the booth, her eyes wide with joy, shining with the light of a hundred thousand suns. Couldn’t help capturing those few moments where she was entirely in awe of this new discovery, the wind blowing her hair across her face, her forest green jacket fluttering around her.

Another image bloomed in his mind, a new painting, an autumn goddess standing before the world, leaves tangled in her hair, the winds blowing against her gown as she tipped her head back to the sunshine, a pumpkin tart in her hand.

“Jihyun!” MC called, pulling him back from the sea of his imagination. “Do you want one?”

He laughed, leaves crunching beneath his feet as he made his way to her side. “I thought I was the one buying the snacks.”

“You said you were going to buy  _ doughnuts _ ,” she said, shrugging. “You never said anything about pumpkin desserts.”

“Only if you let me buy you some tea, then,” he teased, pointing to the tea list near her elbow.

MC rolled her eyes, already pulling out her wallet. “Alright, I  _ guess _ .”

A few moments later they were walking arm in arm, passing a paper cup of steaming chai tea between them, crumbs on their face from their snack.

They passed by the dark building, pausing a few feet away.

Jihyun narrowed his eyes, the music wrapping around the building finally coming into focus. A low, dissonant harmony, punctuated by false screams mingling with real cries of horror, all pouring from that foggy, curtained entrance.

Beside him, MC pressed closer, her eyes going wide.

“It’s a whole haunted house,” she muttered. “Just sitting inside the maze.”

“Did you want to go in?” He asked, even as a witches shriek cut through the air, nearly making him jump.

“Do  _ you _ want to go in?” She asked, curling closer still.

“Not particularly.”

MC sighed, relief washing across her face as she tipped her head back to meet his gaze. “Me neither. I hate scary things.”

“Me too,” he said, then paused as he peered into her eyes. “Although I always feel a little bit braver with you.”

Her eyes widened, and for a second he thought his wife was going to cry again. But then she huffed out a long breath, her cheeks permanently stained pink by now.

“Jihyun,” she said, holding his gaze, her expression serious. “My dearest, beloved husband.”

“Yes?” He asked, his gaze falling to her mouth, to the crumbs at the corner of her lips.

“You are the sweetest man in the entire world. You are kind and wonderful and you say things that make me feel so,  _ so _ warm.”

Maybe  _ he _ was going to cry again.

“You’re also an absolutely massive dork.”

He sniffed, brushing the crumbs from her face. “Maybe we should head back into the maze.”

She cocked her head to the side, taking another bite of her tart and getting crumbs stuck to her face again. “Don’t you want to see the rest of this little market? I think there’s a stall selling little pumpkin keychains.”

He shook his head, pressing his brow against hers.

“I just want to get lost in the maze with you for a little while longer.”

“Okay,” she breathed, nodding her head against his. “Okay, let’s go get lost again.”

Jihyun let his wife finish their tea, his heart already warm enough from holding her hand as they walked.

They wandered for a while longer, letting themselves get lost, walking in circles until they were both dizzy and stumbling into stalks of corn.

The world had darkened by the time they finally found themselves at the exit, the sky stained crimson and burning orange, indigo already creeping beneath the vivid colours.

Their shadows stretched before them like strange, ghastly figures, and Jihyun found himself squeezing MC’s hand on instinct, a shiver wracking through him. MC wrapped her hands around his arm in response, cuddling close to him as they made their way from the growing shadows of the maze.

“What next?” She asked, her cheek squishing against his arm.

“Well,” he said. “Did you still want to pick a pumpkin?”

Her eyes widened, and she nodded furiously, a smile arcing across her lips that was more brilliant than the sunset casting fire across the evening sky. “ _ Yes _ , absolutely.”

Jihyun couldn’t help smiling in response, couldn’t help the pure delight that flowed through him as he guided her to the tractor-pulled wagon that would take them to the pumpkin patch. Couldn’t stop grinning as he helped her up onto the wagon, settling beside her on the rough wooden bench wedged behind heavy bales of hay.

The air was growing chilly, and it bit into Jihyun’s face and hands as the wagon rocked, slowly driving them to the pumpkin patch.

It was the perfect opportunity to wrap his arms around MC, to cuddle with her as they watched the sun’s final hurrah, the way the light painted the sky in vibrant reds and oranges, as soft pinks stained the edges, as the stars began to shine from beyond the fiery light.

MC shivered, curling into his embrace, and she whined softly as the tractor pulled to a stop.

“What is it?” He asked, trying and failing to get to his feet as she clung to him.

“I’m cold,” she muttered, burrowing against his chest.

Jihyun laughed, helping her to her feet. “Come on,” he said. “We need to pick out a pumpkin, remember? So we can take it home and carve it.”

She nodded, peeling away from him as they climbed down from the wagon. “You’re right. We have to pick out a pumpkin.” She clapped her hands together, grinning again. “The most perfect pumpkin in the patch.”

“I’m sure together we can find one.”

The air grew colder, a deep indigo bleeding across the sky as they began the work of choosing a pumpkin. They picked their way across the patch, heedless of the chill carried on the evening wind. Their fingers grew muddy as they turned over pumpkin after pumpkin, their hair disheveled as they let the wind have its way.

MC rubbed her hands together, perching on a pumpkin half as tall as she was, staring furiously at two pumpkins before her, contemplating whether they were good enough.

Jihyun used the small reprieve in their search as an excuse to pull his camera out again, turning the flash off before snapping a few pictures of his wife. Her nose was wrinkled in the adorable way it did when she was thinking particularly hard, her mouth quirked to the side as she chewed on her bottom lip.

She hummed, bobbing her head to the side, her eyes widening.

“You know,” she said, twisting around to peer at him. “We could always get two.”

He tucked his camera back into his pocket, moving to perch next to her on the pumpkin. “You want to get both of them?”

She nodded. “Well look at how they’ve grown together.”

Jihyun narrowed his eyes, humming as he considered the pumpkins before him. They weren’t perfect by any means, both a little lumpy, one of them still a little green on one side.

But they were both close together, their vines intertwined like they couldn’t bear to let the other go.

“If we take one, the other will be lonely,” MC said, pointing to the tangled vines. “We can’t just take one and abandon the  _ other _ . It’ll be heartbroken.”

She turned to face him, her bottom lip sticking out again in that adorable pout. “I know that if someone tried to take you away from me, my heart would break.”

His face flushed, heat crawling across his body as she held his gaze.

“Well,” Jihyun said slowly, taking his wife’s muddy hands in his own. “I guess we’ll have to get them both.”

They worked together to cut the vines, chattering about what they would carve into the pumpkins as they made their way back to the wagon.

There was no cuddling on the wagon ride back, each of them balancing a pumpkin on their laps as silvery starlight washed over the world. Although Jihyun did try to hold her hand as best he could, gripping his pumpkin tightly with his other hand.

When they returned to the parking lot they heaved their pumpkin prizes into the trunk, breathless.

“One second,” Jihyun said, holding up his hand as MC began making her way to the passenger side door. “I want to do one more thing.”

She tipped her head to the side, but didn’t argue as he tugged her back towards the few remaining food trucks.

“A little snack,” he said. “For the ride home.”

Ten minutes later and their arms were weighed down by three bags of sugar-coated doughnuts and two pumpkin spiced coffees.

Jihyun didn’t realize how hungry he was until he’d taken the first bite of a doughnut, the fried dough and crystalline sugar tasting better than anything he had ever eaten before.

MC giggled, passing him doughnuts as he made his way back onto the highway.

“Careful,” she teased. “Don’t eat too fast, or you’re going to get the hiccups.”

He took a sip of his coffee, her eyes glittering beneath the starlight. “I’m not going to get the hiccups.”

He did, in fact, get the hiccups, and MC spent the rest of the drive home teasing him about it.

“I could scare them away,” she joked, folding the empty paper doughnut bags and tucking them into her pocket as he pulled into the driveway.

“Please don’t,” he said softly.

“I could ask-”

“ _ Please _ don’t ask Saeyoung,” Jihyun pleaded, his mind flashing back to the last time someone had asked Saeyoung to play a prank on him.

MC giggled, squeezing his arm. “Okay, love, I won’t. I promise.”

Jihyun slumped back in his seat as he cut the engine. “Thank you.”

It took them another few moments to realize that his hiccups had vanished.

MC jumped, pressing her palms against his shoulders and leaping higher. “Jihyun! They’re gone!”

“They’re gone!” He laughed, his hands going to her waist.

“You know what that means?” She asked, bouncing on her toes.

“What?”

“It means I  _ did _ scare your hiccups away.”

He hummed, skeptical. “I don’t know, they could have-”

“It  _ means _ ,” she said, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “That you’re probably scared of Saeyoung.”

Jihyun sputtered, backing away, fighting against the laughter bubbling in his throat. “I’m not scared of Saeyoung.”

“Oh? Aren’t you, though?”

“I basically raised him, I’m not scared of him.”

MC scoffed, throwing open the trunk and retrieving one of the pumpkins. “Oh please. Remember last Halloween when he decided to turn the entire house into a haunted mansion?”

Jihyun shook his head, memories flashing through his mind like photos flickering across a screen. “I could never forget.”

She didn’t stop teasing him until they’d locked the front door behind them, depositing the pumpkins on the kitchen table for tomorrow.

And then it was a shower, the water steaming up the bathroom mirror and window, their clothes left in a crumpled heap in a corner of the bathroom as they scrubbed the dirt from their hands and faces and massaged the aches from their shoulders.

Jihyun pulled his wife against his chest as he fell back on the living room couch, a movie already playing on the television across from him. She squealed with laughter, curling against him as his arms tightened around her waist.

“So,” he said, brushing her hair back from her face. “What did you think?”

“About what?” She asked, pressing a kiss to his jaw.

“About your surprise,” he said. “About the day.”

MC hummed, tapping her cheek while she peeked up at him. “I think it was the best day ever.”

He arched a brow. “Really?”

“Although every day with you is the best day ever.”

He flushed. “ _ Hey _ .”

She pressed her lips to his jaw again, trailing kisses up to the corner of his lips.

“I think,” she breathed. “That it was a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun today, Jihyun.”

“I’m glad,” he murmured.

“But I was being serious, before,” she continued, cupping his face with her hand. “It was even better because I got to spend it with you.”

He leaned into her touch, light and warmth and happiness cascading through him like he was made of starlight. Like he was made of joy. “I’m so glad.”

She sank back against his chest, cuddling against him. “I’m happy even doing this, just watching a movie with you.”

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He’d kissed her so much today, had told her he loved her countless times. But he’d meant it each time, had been utterly and entirely sincere each and every time.

He’d never felt such happiness, such warmth, as he did being with her. Even the most mundane of things, like joking about hiccups or watching a movie late at night, were so much better when they were with her.

His eyes felt heavy, and he could already feel himself nodding off, barely even a few minutes into the film. But he felt so warm, so calm and serene. And he was holding her, he was holding his wife so close he could feel her heart beating.

He thought back to the conversation they’d had earlier that afternoon, when they’d been on their way to the maze. About being tamed, about being unique and special in the other’s eyes.

If this was what it felt like to be tamed, then he was content. There was no better feeling in the entire world.

He kissed her again, sleep wrapping him in its quiet embrace.

“I love you,” he murmured. “Everything is better with you.”

The last thing he remembered was her lips against his skin, her quiet breaths against his neck as she whispered:

_ “I love you too.” _


End file.
